When Nanci Nedweski started chemotherapy for breast cancer, she braced herself for the side effect.

“It came weeks later,” says the Kenosha 54-year-old. “It was a constant numbness in my hands and fingers. Like your hands are asleep. You can’t think of anything else.”

Known as Chemo-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy (CIPN), the debilitating side effect strikes 30-40 percent of cancer patients, causing sharp pain in their hands and feet. Many patients can’t write or handle buttons. In Illinois alone the condition has struck about 250,000 patients.

But Nanci got almost total relief from a new FDA-cleared non-invasive treatment that’s just arrived in Illinois.

The treatment, called Scrambler Therapy, is also being tested at Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth recently tested the treatment on 16 patients with CIPN.[1] Overall their average pain plummeted 64%. Four patients had their pain reduced to zero. Lead researcher Thomas Smith M.D. (now at Johns Hopkins) said, “We’re not talking about a10 percent reduction in pain. We’re talking a 50 to 80 percent reduction in pain, which is exactly what one sees with implanted spinal cord stimulation.” That invasive surgical procedure costs upward of $50,000.

Scrambler Therapy may also play a role in relieving the pain of cancer itself. Recently Korean researchers reported that among three patients with metastatic disease the treatment reduced their pain by more than half.

“This is a game changer when it comes to treating pain,” says Mitchell Weisberg M.D, Medical Director of Spero Pain Relief Therapy of Illinois. The Riverwoods center has become the first in Illinois to offer the device.

Scrambler Therapy is a game changer for two reasons. First the device actually simulates healthy neurons. The electrical device is connected to patients with leads much like an EKG. However the Scrambler Therapy device is controlled by two microprocessors that randomly create 16 specific waveforms, all of which mimic the impulses of healthy neurons. “It was wild,” says Nanci. “There’s a buzzing, mild bee stings, pins in my arms, all these different sensations coming almost at once.” Over time the normal sensations trick the brain into thinking the affected nerve fibers are healthy. Unlike a simple TENS unit which produces just one constant waveform, Scrambler Therapy’s various random waveforms keep the brain tricked so the pain doesn’t return. Scrambler Therapy is also completely new for another reason. “This pain reliever doesn’t depend on the ‘gate control theory of pain’ to work,” says Norman Black, Spero Pain Therapy Clinic Manager. Treatments that use the classic “gate” theory work by blocking pain; Scrambler Therapy works by transforming the abnormal pain impulse into the signal for a healthy nerve.

While the treatment is still new, Nanci’s brother had fortunately happened to hear about it and recommend it. When she found out her insurer, United Healthcare covered the treatment she went ahead. Nanci says, “I felt better after one 45-minute treatment. After nine treatments my pain and numbness were virtually gone. And I got rid of the pain without having to use narcotics.”

Besides CIPN, Scrambler Therapy is also being tested on patients with diabetic neuropathy, post-herpetic neuropathy, phantom limb pain, and an excruciatingly painful disorder called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD). Because Scrambler Therapy is without any known side effects, many experts say the device could become the standard first-line treatment for these conditions.

The biggest challenge for the treatment’s providers is getting reimbursement. United Healthcare and several chapters of Blue Cross/Blue Shield cover the treatment but many insurers do not. As a result many patients are forced to spend about $250 per treatment for up to ten sessions.

But while other insurers wait for the results of ongoing studies, Nanci Nedweski says she knows Scrambler Therapy works. “I got some of the pamphlets for Scrambler Therapy and brought them to my oncologist,” she says. “I told him you’ve got to get your patients on this. This is something they have to know about.”

Anyone who wants more information about this story can call Spero Pain Therapy at 847-520-7111 or visit www.sperotherapyillinois.com